Phase 3: Ideation Ideation means generation lots of ideas. Brainstorming encourages you to think expansively and without constraint. It’s often the wild ideas that spark visionary thoughts. With careful preparation and a clear focus, a brain storming session can yield hundreds of fresh ideas!
3-1 Generate ideas
In this phase of Design Thinking, the students will go through the process of generating ideas.
You can facilitate the brainstorming process by doing a pre-brainstorming activity. These activities can really get the ideas flowing from all team members.
At the start of the brainstorming session, be sure to go over the rules with each team. Explain each rule and its purpose. This helps ensure a more productive brainstorming session. Be sure that you equip each team with the necessary supplies for the brainstorming session. They will need post-it notes, pens or pencils, any technology that is available and a brainstorming space.
100 idea challenge__[1]__
The 100-idea challenge is a great way to motivate teams to go for quantity and diversity in their brainstorming session. Here is how it works:
Teacher facilitates and keeps time
Insist that everyone stands up
Explain the rules
o Write everything down
o You only have 10 minutes
o Do not discuss ideas, just get them recorded
Offer prize for most ideas in the time
Encourage group to work quietly for a couple of minutes to generate 10 ideas to start
Give time updates and countdown to finish
Celebrate the winners and everyone’s effort
(Note: It is important to require each team to find 100 ideas. This is important to get students to stretch their thinking and expand on other ideas.)
3-2 Refine ideas
At this point each team will have dozens of new ideas to sift through. Before the final selection process begins team members may want to pitch their ideas to the other members. Then the teams will select the ideas that they will carry through to the prototyping phase. There are many methods to narrow their selections. Here are a few:
Post-it note voting
Score out of 10 for NEW/USEFUL/FEASIBLE (can use a any scoring system)
Best ideas, Worst ideas – this method mashes two ideas into one.
Sane idea, Crazy idea – mashes two ideas into one
Categorize – choose one idea from each of four categories
o Physical prototype
o Digital prototype
o Experience prototype (role-playing, skit, etc)
With a few ideas in hand, the teams move on the next phase.
Created and maintained by Steven Will [1] Ford, P. (March 2013). Design Thinking: Ideation 1 – Come Up with (a lot of) Great Ideas. Retrieved from notosh.com
Ideation means generation lots of ideas. Brainstorming encourages you to think expansively and without constraint. It’s often the wild ideas that spark visionary thoughts. With careful preparation and a clear focus, a brain storming session can yield hundreds of fresh ideas!
3-1 Generate ideas
In this phase of Design Thinking, the students will go through the process of generating ideas.
You can facilitate the brainstorming process by doing a pre-brainstorming activity. These activities can really get the ideas flowing from all team members.
At the start of the brainstorming session, be sure to go over the rules with each team. Explain each rule and its purpose. This helps ensure a more productive brainstorming session. Be sure that you equip each team with the necessary supplies for the brainstorming session. They will need post-it notes, pens or pencils, any technology that is available and a brainstorming space.
100 idea challenge__[1]__
The 100-idea challenge is a great way to motivate teams to go for quantity and diversity in their brainstorming session. Here is how it works:
- Teacher facilitates and keeps time
- Insist that everyone stands up
- Explain the rules
- o Write everything down
- o You only have 10 minutes
- o Do not discuss ideas, just get them recorded
- Offer prize for most ideas in the time
- Encourage group to work quietly for a couple of minutes to generate 10 ideas to start
- Give time updates and countdown to finish
- Celebrate the winners and everyone’s effort
(Note: It is important to require each team to find 100 ideas. This is important to get students to stretch their thinking and expand on other ideas.)3-2 Refine ideas
At this point each team will have dozens of new ideas to sift through. Before the final selection process begins team members may want to pitch their ideas to the other members. Then the teams will select the ideas that they will carry through to the prototyping phase. There are many methods to narrow their selections. Here are a few:
With a few ideas in hand, the teams move on the next phase.
Created and maintained by Steven Will
[1] Ford, P. (March 2013). Design Thinking: Ideation 1 – Come Up with (a lot of) Great Ideas. Retrieved from notosh.com